Chords for Bass Lines In Minutes - A 'Plug-And-Play' Formula

You don't need to know a million scales or modes to make your own bass lines.
You only need 2 things and in this lesson, I'm going to show you what they are and
how to use them.
Hi, I'm Luke McIntosh from becomeabassist.com and in this lesson, you're going to learn
the instant bass line formula that will let you create your own bass lines that are guaranteed to work.
It's super simple too, so you can start doing it today.
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_ _ Today's lesson is a quick one.
We want to make our own bass lines that are going to work with whatever song we're playing,
right?
Alright, the last thing [N] you want to do is make the music you're playing sound bad
by using dodgy notes or dodgy rhythms.
Like I said at the start though, you only need 2 things to make your own bass lines.
Those 2 things are the root note of the chords in the song and the rhythm of the kick drum.
If you have these 2 things, you can be the one who connects the harmony of the song,
the chords, with the rhythm of the song.
This is exactly what the bass does.
It creates a bridge between the chords and the rhythm.
That is one of our main functions.
Without you playing the bass part, the song won't work as well.
So how do you find these 2 things?
Well the chords is easy enough.
If you've got a chord chart, the root notes are just the notes of the chords.
If it says E, you play an E.
If it says G minor, you play a G.
It's that simple.
You don't even need to think about the type of chords if you're just playing the roots.
If you haven't got a chord chart, you can simply ask whoever you're playing with what
the chords are.
And if you've got a decent ear, you may even be able to pick up the chord progression yourself.
But let's say for example, we're playing a song where the chord progression is A minor,
F, C major, G major.
One bar each.
That means our root notes are [A] A, _ [F] F, [C] C and [G] G.
Easy enough, right?
Now [N] what was our other part of the formula?
The rhythm of the drum.
_ _ And that one's easy too.
All you have to do is listen to what the drummer is playing.
Let's say in our case, the drummer is playing something like this. _
_ _ _ _ _ Let's listen for the kick drum.
It's the deepest, fattest sound in the track.
Can you hear it?
It's here.
It's going uh-uh.
Uh-uh.
Yeah?
So that's our rhythm.
Uh-uh.
Uh [A]-uh.
So all we need to do now is combine those two things, the notes and the rhythm.
Now remember, our notes are A, F, [C] C and [G] G and our [A] rhythm is uh-uh. _ _
So together we'll get this.
2, 3, 4.
Uh-uh.
_ [F] _ Uh-uh.
_ [C]
Uh-uh.
[G] Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Yeah?
[A] Let's go again.
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ So when we play that with the chords and the drums, it'll sound like this.
_ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ Do you see how that [Am] works?
Can you hear how you're using [F] elements of the drums [C] plus the chords and then [G] connecting
those two things?
If we drop out, it sounds empty, _ [F] _ but if we come [C] back in, it sounds full and rich again.
[G] Check it out.
1-2-3 [A]-ah.
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
Yeah?
[Am] Pretty [Fm] cool, right?
Let's try another chord progression and another kind of groove.
This time, let's use the chord progression F major, E [E] minor, D [D] minor and C [C] major.
So our root notes are just F, E, D and C.
If we listen to our drum track, we'll have this.
Check it out. _ _ _
_ What's our rhythm for the bass drum? _ _
Uh-uh.
_ Uh-uh. _
_ Uh-uh.
Cool!
So, we've got our two elements, now let's play the song.
So we've got [E] our F, E, [C] D and C and [A] uh-uh is our rhythm.
So if we go to our track, _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ [Dm] again if we drop out, [C] it's going to sound super empty, _ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Em]
but
when we come back in, it sounds nice and rich.
[D] _ _ [Dm] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
Do you see how simple this is?
There's almost nothing to it.
Now are these bass lines world-changing and groundbreaking?
No, they're pretty [E] simple for the most part, almost to the point of being paint-by-numbers,
but that's fine.
This formula is great if you're just starting out and it's going to work most of the time.
Of course if you're playing prog metal or something like that, this isn't going to
work, but it will work for you the majority of the time.
If you want to go beyond being a paint-by-numbers bassist and take this formula and your bass
lines to the next level, then I've actually recorded a special bonus video for you called
Next Level Bass Lines.
This is where I go through this formula in more depth, give you some ideas on how you
can take these exact bass lines with these basic ideas, you can make them your own and
get you to that next level.
Add some different notes, [A] add some different rhythms, you can really elevate these bass
lines so you're creating something that's way more interesting and fun to play and they'll
make you a better bass player as well.
It's totally free and all you have to do to get it is just click the link in the description,
sign up on that page and I'll send it straight to your email.
You can get started creating bass lines that you can be proud of and do it today.
To recap really quickly though, you learned the instant bass line formula [C#] and it's two elements.
Number one, the roots of the chords and the rhythm of the bass drum.
Combine those two things and you have a perfect recipe for a very functional bass line that's
going to work most of the time.
Be sure to sign up for the Next Level Bass Lines bonus video.
I'd love to see you there as well.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'm Luke McIntosh from becomeabassist.com and I'll see you soon.
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